Asking Jared Hamman (13-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) to recount his most recent UFC appearance is not for the faint of heart; not unless you’re comfortable with comparing the human body to the process of butchering poultry.

“Have you ever pulled skin off chicken?” Hamman asked MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “You know how you pull it off, and then at the end you kind of have to tear it? That popping action, I felt that three times, all at the same time, basically – pop, pop, pop.”

Hamman somehow finds the courage to laugh at such a memory, as he recalls his August 2012 meeting with Dutch prospect Michael Kuiper. In that UFC 150 matchup, the pair went toe-to-toe from the opening bell, but it became quickly evident that Hamman wasn’t fighting at 100 percent. Standing on obviously wobbly legs, Hamman was forced to endure thunderous leg kicks until a second-round barrage finally saw him hit the deck and succumb to a TKO loss.

“Most people think it happened when he low-kicked me, but it happened when he got double underhooks and then picked me up to throw me over and take me down,” Hamman said. “I stuck my leg out, and normally I would pull my leg under me, but my foot got caught on the mat, and I didn’t have time to do that.

“It felt like when you pull the meat off chicken. It pulled all three of the ligaments off the bone, and they sunk down in my leg.”

At times, the fight was downright painful to watch. Hamman’s heart was undeniable, but there were moments where you almost willed him to quit being as tough as he was. The 31-year-old Hamman, who played college football prior to his life as a mixed martial artist, said quitting never once went through his mind.

“If you’re playing football and you get hurt, are you just going to walk off the field and stop playing?” Hamman asked. “No, the coaches are going to have to drag me off the field. I kind of had that mentality from football. In football, you’re always getting hurt. You’re getting smashed. You’re getting dinged up. That’s just the mentality.

“I love this game so much. I love fighting so much. In my mind, I tear my hamstring, I’m like, ‘OK, I still have my left foot. I still have my left hand. I still have my right hand. I’m good to go. You’re going to have to drag me out of this cage.'”

After the fight, Hamman consulted multiple doctors in search of finding one who believed the middleweight would be able to return to form. He found that in Denver’s Steadman Hawkins Clinic, where the staff had gained experience treating members of the National Football League’s Denver Broncos.

“They said, ‘We do this all the time. This is easy,'” Hamman recalled.

Following surgery, Hamman has spent the better part of the past year rebuilding his injured leg after doctors reattached his hamstring with plastic screws.

“There’s a big scar on the back of my leg,” Hamman said. “It’s been tons of rehab. Tons. I was at a point where when I was laying on my stomach, I couldn’t even lift up my leg. To go from there to now, where I can actually fight, it blows my mind. Those guys are amazing, amazing doctors.”

With just one previous UFC appearance, Cedenblad may be a mystery to some casual fans, but Hamman said he’s very aware of his opponent’s skills.

“First off, he has a sweet name: Magnus Cedenblad,” Hamman joked. “He doesn’t lay and pray. He doesn’t sit there and try to play the slap boxing game. I’m going to enjoy fighting Magnus because I like to fight guys that like to fight. Magnus loves to scrap, and not in a meathead, reckless kind of way. He just loves to fight. I think it’s going to be a fun fight and a fight I enjoy.”

And hopefully one in which future poultry comparisons aren’t needed.

Hamman’s UFC career may hang in the balance, as it’s only a select few individuals who can withstand suffering three consecutive defeats and keep their spot on the roster. But Hamman insists he’s not considering any of that ahead of his return to action. A two-time UFC “Fight of the Night” winner, Hamman has spent a year on the sidelines, away from the sport he loves.

Given another chance to fight, he’s going to approach it the only way he knows how.

“Vladimir Matysuhenko is my buddy, and he kept on telling me, ‘Fight with a hot heart and a cold head,'” Hamman said. “I feel like I’m finally starting to understand that – still being really aggressive, but at the same time using my brain about it.

“I think when it comes to the bottom line, I absolutely love this. I love fighting. In order for this to be fun for me, I want to end fights. I don’t want to slap box. I want to go for the finish. I’ll do whatever it takes to do that. That’s the bottom line.”